ABOUT SEATTLE

Surrounded by mountains and bodies of water, Seattle features gorgeous views, clean air and plenty of outdoor activities to take part in. Far from being perpetually rainy and gray, the Summer offers blue skies and warm temperatures. This leads to an equally comfortable Fall with ideal weather for hiking, biking, kayaking, climbing and snowboarding later in the season, making the weekend of Decibel a wonderful time to come to Washington.

Seattle simultaneously encourages a growing technology workforce and also a vibrant, eclectic arts community. Five companies on the 2006 Fortune 500 list are based locally, including the headquarters for Microsoft, Boeing, Amazon, Weyerhaeuser, Nintendo and of course Starbucks. At the same time the city fosters a strong DIY spirit and showcases an abundance of galleries, museums, theaters, live music venues, recording facilities, music retailers, radio stations, and film productions. It has more arts-related businesses per capita than any other major U.S. city, along with having the largest number of bookstores and being considered one of the most literate. The film industry is also very supported, each year hosting SIFF, the biggest and most attended film festival in the country.

Within Seattle the most populated neighborhood is Capitol Hill, where much of this years’ Decibel Festival will be held. The Hill is known for being extremely accepting of all people, representing a diverse cross-section of subcultures. Arts, and especially music, are a huge focus in this area – all clubs are within walking distance from each other, each have their own personalities and many feature live music or DJs most nights of the week. Besides music venues, you’ll find plenty of coffee shops, internet cafes, restaurants, and loads of shopping. For a break from the more urban aspects in Capitol Hill, Cal Anderson Park provides a great place for recreation (softball, ultimate Frisbee, kickball) and Volunteer Park offers an educational sanctuary, housing both its own conservatory and the Seattle Asian Art Museum.

We look forward to welcoming you to Seattle during Decibel this year!

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W SEATTLE : OFFICIAL HOTEL PARTNER

Decibel is proud to announce partnership with the W Seattle Hotel for your accommodation needs.

TO RESERVE YOUR ROOM, PLEASE VISIT THE DECIBEL RSVP PAGE

Situated in the heart of downtown Seattle, the hip and contemporary, 26-floor W Seattle offers 415 deluxe guestrooms, including 9 suites, and is crowned by an illuminated steel and mesh pyramid visible throughout downtown. Recently, the hotel underwent an exciting renovation| “RE-WONDER” of their Living Room and added a new restaurant and bar, TRACE. TRACE offers a fresh, contemporary urban dining experience with a hint of Asian notes and dynamic hand-crafted cocktails and liquor from regional distilleries, a wine list featuring area vintners and other delicious beverages including interesting varietals of sake and locally brewed beers and sodas. Join us daily from 4 pm to 7 pm for $4 beers, $5 food, $6 wine and $7 cocktails.

And for great music, catch some of the Decibel Festival’s guest DJ’s who will be performing throughout the weekend at W Seattle on Wednesday and Thursday night from 9pm -1am and on Friday and Saturday nights with sets starting at 4 pm and running until 1 am.

wseattle.com| traceseattle.com

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WILL CALL / BOX OFFICE INFO

This year’s will call will be located at Broadway Performance Hall (1625 Broadway – centrally located on Capitol Hill). In addition to serving as will call this year, Broadway Performance Hall will house the box office, press area, merchandise, dB Conference, dB in the Park (BPH Plaza), dB Beer Garden and OPTICAL 3 and 4 Showcases. In other words, you can consider Broadway Performance Hall the the official hub of the 2012 Decibel Festival. If you have questions, go there and dB staff will be able to assist you.

Will call will open hours are 12:00 PM – 11:oo PM Wednesday through Friday and 12:00 PM to 8:00 PM on Saturday. ALL PASSES MUST BE PICKED UP DURING THIS TIME.

Tickets for individual events may be purchased in advance or at the Will Call/Box Office area at Broadway Performance Hall. For most events you can also purchase tickets at the venue the night of the event, but it is encouraged to purchase tickets in advance to avoid being denied entry to a sold out event. Credit cards will be accepted at will call and merchandise areas.

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21+ VENUES AND IDS

In order to gain entry to a bar in Seattle, you must be 21 or over and have a valid form of identification (whether it is a passport, a drivers license or a government issued identification card). Bring your ID absolutely everywhere because all bars and venues in Seattle WILL check your ID and will most definitely refuse you entry if you do not have it.

Bars are open until 2:00 AM, but will often stop selling drinks at 1:30AM (1:45 AM bar time). Grocery stores and other corner stores now sell alcohol (spirits), beer, and wine, and will continue to do so until 2:00 AM. For a list of local grocery stores, please view the GUIDE TO CAPITOL HILL or the GUIDE TO DOWNTOWN, which lists the hours and phone numbers for stores close to the venues.

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WIFI HOTSPOTS

Capitol Hill and Downtown are just crawling with free WiFi hotspots. Most coffee shops will have free Wifi (many, if not all, of the coffee shops on the maps above offer free WiFi).

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HERE’S THE GUIDE TO CAPITOL HILL VENUES, RESTAURANTS, SHOPS AND OTHER USEFUL LOCATIONS

View Guide to Capitol Hill : 2012 Decibel Festival in a larger map

HERE’S THE GUIDE TO DOWNTOWN VENUES, RESTAURANTS, SHOPS AND OTHER USEFUL LOCATIONS

View Guide to Downtown Seattle : 2012 Decibel Festival in a larger map

SELECT PUBLIC TRANSIT ROUTES

There are many options in terms of how you can get around while you’re in Seattle. Please check out our TRANSIT GUIDE in order to find the method of transportation that’s right for you.